An analysis of texts representing multiple regional cultures within Spain while examining the Gothic haunting motif in post-Franco Spanish literature.

Employing a theoretical framework in memory and trauma studies and placing emphasis on the inclusion of women’s voices that are frequently left out of Spanish Gothic scholarship, Spectral Spain is the first study to provide an in-depth study of spectrality and haunting in the Gothic literature of contemporary Spain. Through close readings of eleven main texts, Dr. Heidi Backes examines haunting as the perfect motif for Spanish authors to portray the tension between modernity and the imposition of a nationalized tradition throughout the twentieth century—noting not just the trauma of the civil war and the resulting dictatorship of Franco, but also the continuing and widespread disenchantment during and after the transition. It is a study of multiple manifestations of individual and collective trauma in texts written after the transition, which will assist readers’ understanding of the relationships between Gothic fear, trauma, and spectrality.